It’s official – we’re finally taking off! I’m excited the trip is finally here! More than that, though, I’m ready to be done getting ready. The last few weeks have been especially tough. It turns out getting rid of almost all of your belongings and moving some furkids across the country is an exhausting experience. Not to mention all the last-minute packing and preparations. Let me give you the rundown.

Week 1

The first week of funemployment was definitely the easiest of the weeks so far. My main task was to take apart and get rid of all of our Ikea furniture. For those of you who don’t know, ripping apart Ikea furniture and throwing the pieces into the pile at the recycling center is the best experience ever. I don’t have photos of that adventure but I do have one from the wonderful walk along the Puget Sound I took with my friend afterward.

I wish all moving days were like this one.

Week 2

This was when we hit crunch time. It turns out moving is a lot harder when you’re trying to be very thoughtful about which things you toss and keep while maximizing for getting rid of as much as possible. Due to these requirements, our apartment wound up looking like a disaster area for pretty much the entire week.

This is fine.

Oh, the piles and bags.

Our makeshift dining room to entertain friends for dinner

The California Weekend Adventure

Our last weekend before vacating our apartment we took a trip to Big Sur for a wedding. The timing was a bit difficult but the wedding was beautiful. The venue itself was absurdly breathtaking, just off US 1 on the ocean.

The Drive Part 1

After California, a lot more cleaning, and a little bit of sleeping on the floor, we finally said goodbye to our apartment of three years.

Goodbye, apartment.

We loaded up our little hatchback with everything we were taking to our families, including 2 very unhappy cats, and took off on a drive across the country to Michigan. Driving with cats does not make for a relaxing journey but we did get to make some quick stops along the way, the Badlands being the most notable.

Michigan

Finally, after 4 days of travel, we made it to Michigan to visit with my family and drop the cats off with my sister. This is when I finally realized my lifelong dream of having Yesterdog come to me. I also introduced my niece to Snapchat filters with wonderful results.

That face kills me.

The Drive Part 2

Without the cats we were able to take more time on our drive to Atlanta, including a short stop in Nashville.

The Parthenon in Centennial Park.

More Centennial Park.

Gross but really pretty green water.

Now

After spending a week or so in Atlanta, mostly watching Olympics and eating way too much food, we are off! Next up, Ireland!

This is my excited face.